Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 443 The Shed, A Surprise Attack

The interior of the shed was much more spacious than it appeared from the outside. There were no lights; only a few rays of dim light seeping through the cracks in the walls could barely illuminate the interior.

Dust particles floated in the air, and the damp air was filled with a putrid smell that made one frown.

The wooden door was pushed open and then quickly closed. A man with a gloomy face and broken eyebrows walked into the room, his gaze subconsciously sweeping towards the storage room next to him.

Through the iron window frame embedded in the door, one could vaguely see a frail figure bound with hemp rope, lying motionless on the floor of the storage room.

The velvet dress no longer looked as glamorous and clean as before, and was covered with dust and dirt, but the overall appearance of the dress was still quite neat, without any signs of tearing or damage.

The large dose of sedative was enough to keep the Baron's daughter, named "Ellie," in a coma since last night.

Otherwise, they might not be able to keep this greenhouse-grown tulip quiet and well-behaved throughout the entire process without ensuring that the other party is not fatally or seriously injured.

Frankly speaking, it's almost a miracle that such a fair-skinned noblewoman could still wear that dress so decently after being in the hands of gangsters for more than ten hours.

It wasn't because the members of the Shark Gang had any outstanding qualities, or because they felt any pity for this poor and unfortunate noblewoman.

The reason for this lies with her father, a baron who also served as a charter officer.

"Is it cleaned up?"

A deep, resonant voice came from the deepest part of the room.

Riley, the leader of the Horned Shark gang, sat on a barrel and asked the man with the broken eyebrow who had just entered the room.

He was tall and burly with a square face, and leaned against his feet a double-edged axe with a blade larger than an average person's torso.

As a level 5 professional warrior, his exceptional physical abilities and the versatility afforded by his basic profession allowed him to make a name for himself as an adventurer many years ago, and now he has become the leader of a gang-type organization.

“Basically.” The sinister man nodded slowly, his eyebrows, severed by scars, appearing and disappearing in the shadows.

He is "Barty," the number two figure in the Shark Gang, a level 4 rogue. He and Riley were originally teammates in an adventurer's party, and he later joined the organization founded by Riley.

"But the knife wasn't on him."

"Probably got stolen by someone else while he was showing off. It doesn't matter, as long as he's dead." Gang leader Riley's attitude towards the missing scalpel was quite casual.

After all, if it were truly a rare item, he wouldn't have given the knife to "Bloody-nosed Rat" Jerry as a token.

For those without attribute panels, the scalpel from another world is merely a trophy they accidentally picked up during their voyage. Even if it has a strange and novel design, its material structure, which focuses too much on sharpness and has extremely poor toughness and has no practical value in combat, means that it can only be sold as a collectible for a specific group of people.

For Riley, the original owner of the scalpel, the loss of the item was insignificant compared to the current situation. As long as the witness during the transfer, that foolish and overconfident thug who wanted to join their gang, was dead, that was all that mattered.

This morning, due to limited conditions and the hassle of dealing with the corpse, it took a long time. Otherwise, we would have killed that little mouse on the spot, and it wouldn't have survived until now.

Barty didn't reply. He took the hot water handed to him by one of the underlings, touched his lips to make sure it was okay, and then slowly sipped it.

Living in darkness and shadows, they emphasize agility and dexterity, possessing exceptional stealth abilities...

Due to their inherent professional characteristics, the "Wanderer" is often associated with "assassin" or "killer" in many situations outside of adventures.

Batistuta was no exception.

Since he and Riley broke away from their original adventurer party and founded the Horned Shark Gang, only 20% of the blood on his daggers came from monsters; the vast majority came from various adventurers, townspeople, and hostile forces.

He'd been killing so many small-time thugs like Jerry that he was practically numb with it all, so naturally he wouldn't have any other thoughts.

A pair of cold eyes stared at the noble girl behind the storeroom door, and after a long while, she uttered a soft sentence:
"The receiving ship should arrive by noon today at the latest."

“You know the situation right now.” Riley, the “Shark,” spoke in a low, steady voice, but with a hint of irritation. “The port is completely sealed off. It’s not just routine checks; the governor’s guards are even checking the ballast in every ship that leaves the port. It’s not just for show.”

"Don't worry, that 'big shot' said that if the situation gets tense, he will give us a signal and arrange another way to leave."

"Signal?" Broken-browed Buddy scoffed. After years of getting to know him all too well, even though Riley was now sitting in the position of gang leader, he didn't give him much respect.

"Do you know how many groups of Governor's guards I encountered on my way back from searching the Saltwater District?"

"We're like rats in the sewers, unable to see the light of day, boss!"

Barty trailed off, his tone undisguisedly sarcastic.

“Those noble lords sit on the sofa, drinking red wine, and if they just throw out a bone, we’ll scream and tear their enemies apart.”

"If we bite too lightly, it won't have any effect, and the men won't be satisfied; if we bite too hard and cause bleeding, we'll be the first ones sent out during the purge!"

"Riley, don't you understand?!"

From the beginning, Batty opposed Riley's plan.

Adventurers and gangsters are completely different.

The former only needs to be responsible for themselves, just like a locust passing through; no matter how bad or extreme their actions are, they can simply pat their butts and move on to another place.
The latter, however, is a legitimate power organization that needs manpower, territory, and in-depth and careful management, and also involves countless other entanglements.

Given the size and influence of their Shark Gang, they should never have gotten involved in an event of this magnitude, let alone as the perpetrators of the kidnapping of the Baron's daughter.

Any mistake would result in utter destruction.

"Are you afraid?"

Riley looked up, his face shrouded in shadow, his expression unreadable, but his tone remained steady.

“Fear? Riley, what’s the point of discussing this now?” Broken-browed Barty sneered, his speech becoming increasingly rapid. “I just think we should probably start thinking about our escape routes.”

"The loss of his daughter was like a hornet's nest being stirred up. He was able to become a chartered officer not simply because of that so-called 'baron' title."

"The Adventurers' Guild's quests are all posted on the quest wall. There are probably hundreds of adventurers in the entire Barracuda Bay looking for us. Guess how many of them have already obtained their job ranks?"

"It's been so long, where's the 'safe passage' that sir promised? We haven't seen a trace of it yet!"

"The initial promise was just to 'invite' Miss over for a few days, to scare Baron Farrow and make him more sensible next time he makes an approval."

"now what?"

"Given the current situation in Sucker Bay, it's long past the point of 'giving them a lesson.' How do you think we can back out now?"

The Shark Gang is the "black glove" of those noble gentlemen in the White Cliff District.

The organization possesses considerable internal combat strength, with several professional-level adventurers. The gang leader and second-in-command have reached level 5 and level 4 respectively, making them quite formidable.

However, it is constrained by the complex power dynamics within the saltwater region, and thus yearns for development but is unable to do so.

In such circumstances, as long as the noble lords who hold power give a word, sharks that smell blood will come running forward on their own.

The specific details of the exchange of benefits are actually very simple.

Using the intelligence provided to them, the Shark Gang kidnapped Baron Faro's daughter. Of course, they didn't harm her, but rather taught the charter officer a lesson so that he would turn a blind eye to certain approval applications in his future work.

In this way, the nobles profited, while the narwhal gang, after disappearing for a period of time, could simply change its name to something like the "toothed shark gang" or "narwhal gang" and use the resources and connections from the White Cliff District that it gained from this incident to start anew.

But now, things seem to be spiraling out of control.

The shack was deathly silent.

The underlings on both sides kept their eyes down, not daring to utter a single word. While gang leader "Horned Shark" Riley still harbored a sliver of hope, he couldn't deny that Batty was indeed right.

The situation is spiraling out of control; the sordid squabbles among the nobles could now drag them all down with them.

What's your idea?

After a moment of silence, he asked his second-in-command.

Barty's gaze swept over the baron's daughter in the storeroom once more, his face grim, his voice low:
"The goods... are still in our hands in the end, and that's our bargaining chip."

"And the people we are negotiating with are not necessarily just the gentlemen from Baiya District whom we know now."

"The Chamber of Commerce, the church, and even those people in the Southern Islands... might also be interested."

Riley's pupils contracted slightly. He understood what the other person meant, of course, but...

You're playing with fire!

If there is still a chance to turn things around, then taking the Baron's daughter out of Baron's Bay and handing her over to those people outside the island would mean that they have completely stood on the opposite side of Baron Faro and even the entire White Cliff district.

If something goes wrong at that time...

Not only himself, but the entire Shark Gang will be completely wiped out.

“It’s better than staying in a moldy wooden house by the sea and waiting for the tide to come in and drown,” Barty replied coldly. “The muddier the waters, the more likely small people like us are to survive.”

"Think about it, boss."

"Anyway, we can't use the name 'Horned Shark Gang' anymore. After this job, we'll take the money and resources and fly away, change our name, go inland or to other coasts, whether it's doing business, starting a gang, or even going back to being adventurers, anything is fine."

"First, we need to get out of this damned Barracuda Bay!"

Riley's heart sank.

His chest heaved slightly as he looked at the second-in-command in the gang, whose strength was second only to his own, and who had been with him for many years but whose thoughts were becoming increasingly unfathomable.

He could see something called "ambition" growing and spreading freely in the depths of the other person's eyes.

When is it
Was it just over ten days ago, when he insisted on taking on this mission despite the other party's objections?

Or even earlier, when the two left the team to establish the Shark Gang in the Saltwater?
Riley couldn't see clearly.

He didn't even know if the other party's suggestion was due to an extreme and crazy personality, or if they were hiding some other trump card that he didn't know about.

"Keep a close eye on the goods."

Riley ultimately chose to compromise.

"Let's wait one last night. If we still haven't received a signal by dawn tomorrow... then we'll talk."

Broken-Eyebrow Barty nodded slightly, said nothing more, and retreated into the shadows to the side.

But just a second later, accompanied by a flash of sharp, cold light in the air, his dagger, which had just been bathed in blood, had been wiped clean, and had been sheathed for a long time, was once again in his hand.

The shadow energy fluctuated silently, and a pair of cold eyes suddenly looked towards the doorway.

Noticing Batty's strange behavior, Riley, the "Horned Shark," had already developed some resentment towards his second-in-command, but out of the trust they had built up over the years, he subconsciously grabbed his double-edged axe that was leaning against him and stood up from his seat.

Not long after, a series of footsteps suddenly came from outside the shed.

Moreover, it seemed to have a clear purpose; they weren't just passing by, as the footsteps drew closer and closer towards the shed.

"Knock knock knock".

A knock sounded softly at the door.

No one responded.

The incorrect striking rhythm was enough to prove that the newcomer was not an internal member of the Horned Shark Gang.

The gang members, who had clearly received professional training, remained silent and dared not utter a sound.

Is anyone inside?

They didn't stop there. When they knocked on the door without getting a response, a clear female voice came from outside the door.

No one responded.

The air fell silent once more, and no one spoke in the entire room.

They didn't hear the footsteps fading into the distance.

This means that the outsider who knocked on the door is still standing outside.

"Crunch."

The soft cracking of the wooden planks sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silence.

The already dilapidated door trembled slightly, and a small crack appeared on its surface.

immediately……

"Click".

Wood chips flew everywhere.

The door had a small hole about the thickness of a finger.

A soft, flesh-colored tentacle covered in slime and with suction cups slowly emerged from the small hole.

One, two, three...

A miniature octopus, no bigger than a quarter the size of an adult's palm, squeezed out of the small hole in front of everyone and gently landed on the ground.

With difficulty, it got up, its small, eyeless head seeming to sense something, and it shook gently.

Then, it slowly came to rest on Barty.

hum-

Despite the complete silence on the field, this skilled wanderer seemed to be completely locked onto by some invisible force.

Ignoring the noise he was making, he suddenly stepped forward, pointing his short dagger at the octopus.

"boom!"

"hold head high……"

This is the shed door that was suddenly smashed open, and the long howl of wolves that had somehow circled around to the back and came from outside the wall behind them.

(End of this chapter)